Fluid metering apparatus



July 24, 1951 A. J. GRANBERG 2,561,620 FLUID METERING APPARATUS OriginalFiled June 17, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 45 HLBEETJ GE/JNBEEG. I .l 4

n\\\\\\\\\\\\ 6 F g E y 1951 A. J. GRANBERG 2,551,620

\ FLUID METERING APPARATUS Original Filed June 17, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2:70 64 5 i 1 54 62) w 38 I. e E 5 60 F h I 40 Patented July 24, 1951UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE FLUID/METERING APPARATUS Albert r ranh r ana i Original application June 17, 1342, Serial no, 457,421. "Divided andthis application May 6,

1. .416, eria Ne la6 (Cl. 1s s 4s ..Qla ms- M inv o relate 't t rin a paa us iqr measur n i u ds und r flow ehd iens, mor ar u ar y o afldelay-" alve f r u e i sueh apparatus, and er u pose o l us ra ion, llbe described inconnection with its application to, the; dis n ing ofsase in oil and h ke r m ts ks n t e tem-ea nks: f ser i s ati ns, thoh. it s t be und r teod tha h e d Q utll yof y nv ntion is no e trictedo uch limite ep i atien,

his appl cati n sa. d visi nei myap liea enu for FluidM terins elim nateS rialN 4 7 31 filled June 1.7,, ,2v new Pa ent o- ZAILZfilr gra ted Novmb r 9 946- In thed st b i n lei eaee inet oi e est eeeme i eis ar edremrt k ruek a whe. u ying, he un r ro n tq es ks of a service ste tionor sub eque t a e, o: custo er The iaw e sv a e provided w th flu d mrs. h ou h wh ch h l quid is a dtc flew and e e e ed bete ee t r ns thesc arg e et uib emeens usually e uees e ated with the me ta e.- um e iom e li uid: tries t ts; t ach n e meter, so as to avoid false readingsduring a met P rio t b en to d, however, that o s i he mete r serve s, ro te n: r dueed a e y sta tr t-dispen ing er ed, th cau ebeing aced tehefeet that a t e mo ent adis h rse cm h t uek ank i S a/Fan ed, t e ni lf arr s w t t r u the me a. s bs an al amcun of ai w ich d e taleak oret er eu esm have aeeum l edn e ineinee t e :erevi us'diseharse, nd this1 par ieulerly e hel aseu en th ifirs char e. iq l wins the i ling; ofempty tr c Amen-e, he -obiee s of in en ion ere:

(1) To provide novel and improved valyemeans t r use n ppar tus, er themo al Q a r r the initial flow of tfl idn he me er;

(2 o p vide never and. mprov d valve means f r; us n c nne t on w th afluid :r ee dr inermet r o pr l fa se r adi ss ueu h meter, norma l at rb ble t t eaccumu at on O ai t e 1 ne ,-whi heir w u d norm Pass to them er with t e init a flew t iquid here e;

3.) To o ide ove d murovedepn r ns t ca ut he f egoi jects h ar st s h le com a t and e i ie t in we e: tion.

Add tie al; o e t of n ntieu will e brought e t in the ll wi ee t e othe ken i on unc ion w th the e qm et y m rawinssw ereinrs an elevetienl view oi; th eem t Z nation comprising my invention, the combinationbeing made novel by the cooperative inclusion of a special flow delayvalve assembly in a prior known meter arrangement;

Fi ure 2 is a view in section on line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing oneembodiment of such flow delay valve assembly with the valve in itsnormal rest position Figure 3 is a similar view showing the same valveassembly in fully open position;

Figure is a view in section taken on the line 4--4 of igure 2 Figure 5is a view in section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevational view 01'; the apparatus of Figure1, showing a modified flow delay valve assembly; f

Figure '7 is a view in section of the modified flow delay valveassembly, taken on the line 1+1 of Figure 6, and showing the, valve inits normally 0sed p s t enf d 1 Figure 8 is a similar view showing thevalve, in ts. ful y op n sit n.

In gene e ob ect Of. my inve t e ealized by interposine h fluid P t to tmeter a d refe ab b ween t e t r and t e air separator, awflow, delayvalve or equivalent structure, whose function it is to impede the fullfiQW offiuid to the meter during the initial porf tion of a meteringperiod and fora time sufiicient to permit the air separator to. removeaccumue lated air therefrom. Following this, the line is completelyopened to permit continuou full ca: pacityflow through the meter as lonas desired, the air separator being capable of removing the air normallypresent during such full. capacity flow.

Referring to, the drawings for a more detailed description, I haveillustrated in Figure 1 a, portion of the line H] including the meter I2and the air separator M. The meter, in so far as the combinationcomprising theinvention is con.- cerned, need not be limited to anyspecific type but may be any meter capable of measuring liquid flowingtherethrough. The particular meter which I have shown for purposes ofillustration is of the rotatable vane, type disclosed in the patent forFluid Meter, No. 2,272,170, of Feb. 10,, 1942, in which I am jointinventor, and, as such, includesaninlet l6 to the interior compartmentsformed by the rotatable vanes (not shown), a discharge [8 connecting, toa hose 20 and a re: corder 22, supported on the meter and operatedusually from the meter shaft;

Thea sepa ator ay beofany suitable-t pe,

but, for purposes of illustration, I have selected an air separator ofthe type also disclosed in the aforementioned patent, although the samehas been modified to adapt it to the combination of the present case.Briefly, it comprises a housing 24, in the lower portion of which lies acylindrical filter 26 extending from the inlet opening to the housing,and in the upper portion of the housing is an air release valve 28controlled by a float 30.

Fluid to be discharged through the meter is first introduced into thelower section through the filter, to rise into the upper section whereany air in the fluid has an opportunity to separate out therefrom. Thefloat 30, during high liquid level conditions, serves to hold the airrelease valve 28 closed until the accumulation of air in the uppersection of the housing lowers the liquid level and drops the floatsufficiently to pull the valve open and permit escape of the air. Air,thus released, is conducted through an air tube 32-back into the mainline at the discharge side of the meter, and in this manner is by-passedaround the meter and is not conducted through it to give false readings.

Ordinarily, the air separator i4 is connected to feed directly into themeter l2 and it is so disposed with respect thereto as to leave themeter fully primed between discharges. In the improved apparatus of mypresent invention, a flow delay valve 34 is interposed between the airseparator and the meter, and preferably disposed below the filter and incommunication therewith and the input to the meter, so that all theliquid must pass through this valve on its way to the meter.

The valve 34 is operated through control mechanism 36 which is housedin' a casing 38 which may, if desired, constitute an integral portion ofthe air separator housing 24. This casing includes a cylinder 40extending outwardly from a side wallthereof, the cylinder preferablyconstituting an independent element securely fastened in an opening inthe wall of the casing and communicating with 'theinterior of thecasing. A piston 42 reciprocally mounted in this cylinder, isprovidedwith a relief perforation 44 through the head 46 thereof, and, further,has its outer cylindricalwall peripherally grooved, the groove 48, thusformed being made to communicate with the interior of the casing by ahole 56 through the reduced portion of the cylindrical wall. Alongitudinal slot or groove 52 in the interior wall of the cylinderadjacent its outer end, provides open communication between the workside of the piston and the interior of the casing after the piston hastraveled but a portion of its full stroke.

Forward movement of the piston. in the cylinder is normally retarded bya counterweight 54 pivotally secured to a bracket 56 mounted on an innerwall of the casing and connected to the piston 42 by a link 58 havingone end secured through a hole 60 in the weight, and its other endpivotally secured to the piston 42.

Also pivotally secured to the piston is another link 62. This link ispivotally secured adjacent its other end, to the valve 34 which in thisinstance takes the form of an eccentrically mounted swingable gate 64freely supported across the input l6 to the meter within a frame 66which is clamped between the output of the casing 38 and the input I6 tothe meter. The pivotal con nection of the link 62 is to the smallersection 68 of the gate. A stop at the edgeof the 6 smaller sectionoverhanging the same is adapted to abut against the inner edge of thevalve supporting frame 66 to fix the normal rest position of the valve,which condition exists with the piston in its retracted position, asindicated in Figure 2, and when no liquid is flowing in the line.

. The longer section 12 of the valve, of this embodiment of myinvention, is preferably bent inwardly of the casing 38, whereby thevalve in its normal rest position is partially open to permit of aninitial, though limited, flow movement of the fluid in the line uponinitiating a discharge, such initial flow to be preferably just aboutsufficient to actuate the valve control mechanism.

By reason of the valve arrangement just described, it will be noted thatthe valve is not free to open immediately upon initiating a discharge,for the initial pressure surge against the valve 64 is absorbed inovercoming the static inertia of the counterweight 54 acting through thelink in a direction opposing the opening of such valve, and inattempting to force the piston forward against the liquid on the workside of the piston, the relief opening 44 being too small to affordrelief during this initial surge. Following the initial surge ofpressure, the piston becomes resistively responsive to the pressure thenexisting in the casing, by reason of the relief opening 44 which permitsof a slow reduction of back pressure against the work surface of thepiston. A slow forward movement of the piston will take place underthese conditions until communication between the piston groove 48 andthe cylinder groove 52 is established, when the back pressure againstthe face of the piston is suddenly and substantially entirely eliminatedand the piston is freed from such restraint. The result is a suddencompletion of the piston stroke. During the slow move-f ment period ofthe piston, the valve opening past the gate. 64 is substantiallyunaffected, for while,

- the larger portion 12 of the gate is closing, the

smaller section 68 is swinging open, with the net result ofsubstantially no change in the opening through the valve.

The sudden and full release of the back pressure against the piston istimed to occur when the larger gate section 12 is substantially closingits portion of the fluid path through the valve so that a full andcomplete opening of the valve will take place in response to the suddenforward thrust of the piston to the end of its stroke. The holding up ofthe full capacity flow during the resistive responsive period of thepiston, which may be varied to suit conditions byaltering any of thefactors determining the period, provides the time interval necessary toremove any accumulation of air from the liquid before sending it onthrough the meter.

Restoration of the piston .to its normal rest position upon cessation offlow of fluid through the line, is assured through the action of thecounterweight 54. Its return time may be materially shortened by theaddition of a valve 14 in the piston head, operative to permit of aquicker interchange of fluid from the interior of the casing to the workside of the piston on the return stroke than would be permitted by therelief opening 44 itself. Such valve may take the form of a disc 16 atthe work side of the piston and slidably secured to the piston head by astem 18. A perforation or two through the head and within the areacovered by the disc 16 are thus adapted to be cov ered during theforward movement of the piston, and uncovered during the returnmovement.

The forward stroke of the piston may be determined by impact of thepiston against the end of thecyl-inder 40. Iprefer, however, to avoidsuch impact by "terminating the stroke just short of the endof thecylinder; This I accomplish byprovidrag an extension 82 at the gate endof the link against which the gate will abut as the gate reaches itsmaximum desiredopen position, the assembly being so designed that thiswill occur when the piston has reached the desired end of its stroke. H

ffnvthe modified form of valve assembly disclosed in'Figures 6, 7 and 8,the gate84fis-substan-ftially, planar and eccentrilcally pivoted,,"butin its closed position, which coincides in this em bodiment with itsnormal restposition, sufiicient clearance is providedto permit of aninitial but considerably limited flow, upon start of discharge from theline. The rest position is fixedby a valve seat flange 85extendinginwardly. on frame 66. V

The valve controlmechanism 86 includes a cyl-' inder 08 terminatingin athreaded plug 90 whereby it is aflixed to the wall of the casing 38. Thecylinder is formed with an integral angularly-disposed offset 9.2adjacent the casingwall in which the cylinder is mounted. The offset hasa bore 94 longitudinally therethrough communicatingwith the interior ofthe cylinder adjacent the casing wall and, by means of a hole 96 throughthe plug, such communication is extended into the casing. Theofiset hereis closed at its outer end by a screw closure 98 threaded therein, andis intersected at an'intermediate point by a longitudinal passage ,lprovidedwithin the wall of the cylinder. This longitudinal passagecommunicates with the interior of the cylinder at lon itudinally spacedpoints through a pair of perforations I02 and I04, respectively, thefirst at substantially the halfway point and the other adjacent the endlo'ffthe cylinder. The construction of the cylinder may be facilitatedby forming it open ended and capping the open end with a plate I06bolted thereon.

The piston may be of the cupped leather type, that is, formed by aleather cup seal I08 held between rigid discs H0 and H2, respectively,and mounted at the end of a piston rod I I4. The piston rod extendsthrough the center of the plug 90, and into the casing. At its innerend, is mounted a two prong fork or guide H6 which extends toward thegate 84 and straddles a pivot pin IIB carried between a pair of ears I20on the smaller section of the gate. A compression spring I22 surroundingthe piston rod exerts continuous pressure against the fork I I6, therebytending at all times to hold the position in retracted position and thegate in its normal closed posiiton as illustrated in Figure 7.

In the set-up just described, the bore opening 94 through the angularoffset 92 functions in the same capacity as the relief opening 44 in thefirst embodiment described, since it maintains restricted communicationbetween the work side of the piston and the interior of the casingduring movement of the piston from its normal rest position to theopening I02. Such bore opening may be a fixed unobstructed opening oflimited size, but I prefer to make it over-size and adjust its effectivesize by an adjusting screw I24 threadedly received in the bore. Thisallows of substantial leeway in manufacturing tolerances, as theadjustment permits regulation of the rate of travel of the piston duringthe initial portion of its forward stroke whereby the duration of thehold-back period may be controlled.

After passing the opening at the halfway mark,

this opening I02 then provides enlargedfiuid passagebetween the 'workside of the piston and the-interiorof the casing, and the resistance.previously encountered against the work surface of the pistonisessentially eliminated, thus permit-.- ting a sudden and increasedvelocity of travel of the piston for the remainder of its stroke.

The forward: movement of the piston is against the actionof thewspringI22. Consequently, like the counterweight 54 of the previousembodiment,this spring will restore the piston and gate to their normal restpositions, upon cessation of flow ofliquid through the line to themeter, the length of piston rod I I4 being preferably such that thepiston I08 does not strike the end of the cylinder 88 in approaching itsrest position.

It'is noted in connection with this second embodiment, that the turningmoment on the gate during the initial or resistively responsive portionof the piston stroke is quite small. This adds somewhatto the loadresistance of thepis ton and, consequently, has the effect of increas'ing the hold-back period. Of course, the length of such period maybeincreased or decreased to suit conditions, not only by the adjustmentscrew I24 (but by utilizing a stiffer or weaker spring, asdesired.

-While I have described two embodiments of my invention, the same issusceptible to change and alteration,- without departing from the spiritthereof, and I accordingly do not'desire .to limit my protection to thespecific details of these embodiments, except asmay be necessitated bythe appended claims.

I claim:

'1. A liquid flow delay valve assembly, comprising a casing forinstallation in a liquid flow line and including a cylinder associated.therewith having a by-pass groove in the wall thereof, a pistonreciprocally mounted in said cylinder and having its rear exposed to thepressure of liquid in said casing when connected in a liquid fiow line,said piston having a cylinder contacting edge which is less in thicknessthan the length of said by-pass groove, a valve for controlling the flowof liquid through such flow line, and means connecting said valve withsaid piston to make movement of said valve dependent upon movement ofsaid piston in said cylinder.

2. Control mechanism for a valve or the like adapted to cause a sharpincrease in movement of such valve during operation thereof, comprisinga cylinder having a by-pass groove in'the inner cylindrical wall thereofadjacent the end of said cylinder, and a piston reciprocally mounted insaid cylinder, said piston having a cylinder contacting edge which isless in thickness than the length of said by-pass groove, and a smallrelief opening in the head thereof to permit of a slow forward movementof said piston until said piston reaches a point exposing both sidesthereof to said by-pass groove.

3. A liquid flow delay valve assembly, comprising a casing forinstallation in a liquid flow line and having a cylinder extendingoutwardly from a wall thereof, a by-pass groove in the inner cylindricalwall of said cylinder adjacent the end of said cylinder, a pistonreciprocally mounted in said cylinder and having its rear exposed to thepressure of liquid in said casing when connected in a liquid flow line,said piston having a small relief opening in the head thereof to permitof a slow forward movement of said piston and being further providedwith a groove cooperating with said first groove after said piston hascompleted a portion of its forward stroke in response to liq-' uidpressurein said/casing to relieve said piston of re-active pressureagainst the front thereof and permit free movement of said piston insaid cylinder for the remainder of said stroke, a gate for controllingthe flow of liquid through such flow line, means for pivotally securingsaid gate therein, link means connecting. said gate with said piston tomake pivotal movement of said gate dependent upon movement of saidpistonin said cylinder, and piston restoring means operative upon removal ofliquid pressure against the rear of said piston to restore said pistonto its initial position.

4. A liquid flow delay valve assembly, comprising a casing forinstallation in a liquid flow line and having a cylinder associatedtherewith, a by-passgroove in the wall of said cylinder, a pistonreciprocally mounted in said cylinder and having its rear exposed to thepressur of liquid in said casing when connected in a liquid flow line,said piston being provided with a groove cooperating with said firstgroove after said piston has completed a portion of its forward strokein response to liquid pressure in said casing to relieve said piston ofre-active pressure against the front thereof and permit free movement ofsaid piston in said cylinder for the remainder of said stroke, a valvefor controlling the flow of liquid through such flow line and in itsnormal rest position permitting of a limited and restricted flow ofliquid thereby, means connecting said valve with said piston to makemovement of said valve dependent upon movement of said piston in saidcylinder, and piston restoring means operative upon removal of liquidpressure against the rear of said piston to restore said piston to itsinitial position.

' 5. A liquid flow delay valve assembly, compris ing'a casing forinstallationin a liquidzflow line and having a cylinder associatedtherewith, a; bypass groove in the'wall of said cylinder, apistonreciprocally mounted in said cylinder and having one side exposed to thepressure of liquid in said casing when .connectedin a liquid flow line,said piston being provided with a groove co-.

operating with said first groove after, said piston has completed aportion of its forward stroke in response to liquid pressure in saidcasing'to, relieve said piston of .re-active. pressure against the otherside thereof and permit free movement of said piston insaid cylinder forthe remainder of said stroke, a valve for controlling the flow of;

liquid through such flow line, means for securing said valve therein,means connecting said valve with said piston to make movement of saidvalve dependent upon movement of said piston in said cylinder, andpistonrestoring means operative upon removal of liquid pressure against.said piston to restore said piston to its initial position.

1, ALBERT J. GRA -B RG.

, I REFERENCES CITED v The following referencesare of record in the fileof this patent: T a 1.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name f "Date" 1,064,061 Dyblie "'June10,1913 1,169,401 Hodgson Jan. 25, 1916 1,196,879 Morrison SeptfS, 19161,406,799 Wood Feb. 14, 1922 2,351,512 Holt June 13, 194i I FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 424,431 Germany Jan; 25,1926

